A Dive Into The Mind
by Memphiston
Summary: When Sora is dragged down into the recesses of his own mind but the ever-so tenacious Xehanort, Riku can only save him by diving into a world fashioned by his friend's thoughts, memories, and desires. He may not like what he sees, or on the other hand, maybe he will. Essentially a bit of yaoi fodder for a friend of mine whose a SoRiku nut. No lemons, just fluff.


KH: A Dive into the Mind

By Isaiah Roa

The unusually bright sky outside the Disney Castle was always a vivid sight to behold, a sun of pure elegant white, with sharp ribbons of light stemming from its blinding glare. Unfortunately, not Sora, nor Riku, nor Kairi would be able to enjoy it's brilliance, as between them and the sunlight were solid walls of mythril alloy, which housed the numerous echoes of keyblades clanging and striking. At this moment, the trio was engaged in a long, trying, but spectacular duel. Kairi had finally managed to get the hang of the keyblade fighting style, instead of clumsily trying to whack-a-mole her opponents like she had did a long time ago back at the Castle that Never Was.

Though extremely willing to fight, she had a resilient hesitation to attack either Riku or Sora, while the only reason the other two had failed to hit one another was that the other had dodged, parried, and clenched a hold against the attack. The two were engaged in a tornado of swordplay, with Kairi stuck in the center, occasionally having to guard against a wild slash. Riku sprinted behind Sora, seeking to jab his keyblade's teeth into Sora's seemingly astray hand, forcing him to drop his own weapon. Unfortunately, Sora met his attack with a trademark mid-air flip, and caught Riku's sword in between his own blade and elbow. However, this move came at a cost, as since nether of the contestants could move, they began to plummet down towards the white floor.

Below, Kairi took her stance, hoping to nick at least one of the two in the arm or something. But before she could even make her swing, Riku launched his foot into Sora's chest, the blow knocking his hold on the Riku's Way to the Dawn loose, and as a final blow, he used his other foot to push off and away from Sora. The force blasted the two towards the opposite walls, with Riku managing to maneuver his feet to catch onto it, while Sora hit into it with his back in full force. The boy then tumbled down onto the floor, stunned and dizzy, waiting for his vision of three shocked Kairis couple back together into one. In a desperate attempt to get back into the fight, Sora clamped his hands down onto the floor and pushed himself up, only to feel a cold metal tap the top of his head. He looked up, and saw the angel wing of Riku's blade, floating over his hair. Looking up, the first thing he saw was Riku's eyes, those glinting ice blue spheres. They were smirking at him with undeniable, but rightfully earned cockiness: another victory for the boy who accepted the darkness.

"I'm telling you Sora, you can't think that just because you take the keyblade and stamp it between your armpit, the fight's over. You can be kicked, punched, and a million other things that I'm too lazy to name." Kairi chuckled at Riku's remark, while Sora merely scoffed.

"Would being kicked into the wall be one of them?" Sora hissed. Riku, caught off-guard by Sora's attitude, raised a brow. Sora was an incredibly fierce competitor, but he was never a sore loser. Reaching out for his shoulder, Riku spoke.

"Hey, Sora…what's up? I'm sorry if it was a bit hard, I guess maybe I had some battle tunnel vision but you don't have to get upset over it." Riku turned Sora over so he could see his face, but when he sluggishly spun around, Riku was met with a gray, deep-socketed shell of the regular Sora. He appeared sickly, his eyes a yard for curved bags and deep wrinkles, with deep dark circles cradling them. Kairi gasped at the sight.

"Oh my God, Sora? What's happened?" She asked, grasping Sora's cheek to try and get a better look. Sora waved his hand to try and shrug off the concern of his friends.

"It, it's nothing. I just haven't been getting enough sleep lately…" Riku leaned in to get a closer look at his friend: he had seen a tired Sora many times before. This wasn't just "tiredness" this was blatant malnutrition.

"What's keeping you up? You look like you haven't slept for weeks." Sora stroked the area between his eyes as he tried to recollect the source of his unrelentingly forced consciousness.

"Every time I try to sleep, I keep seeing these…visions, visions of everything: the heartless, the nobodies, the dream eaters…they're all trying to get to me, tear me apart. It feels…so real." There was a twinge of fear in Sora's voice, and Riku and Kairi looked at one another.

"I think we should take you to Yen Sid, he's the one who knows most about dreams in this whole castle." Riku suggested, as he patted his friend's shoulder. Sora gave a small lazy nod.

"Okay, let's go see the wizard." With a group nod, everyone swiftly turned to the opposite direction, and headed for Yen Sid's chambers. Sora's feet dragged across the long red carpet, he had no idea the amount of lethargy that was weighing him down, though he finally got a good idea when it finally bought him down to his knees. The clang of his keyblade was what alerted his friends, and they came rushing to his aid. Both Riku and Kairi took one arm over their shoulders, and carried the boy back up to his feet.

"Why do I have a feeling that I'm going to have to back into your head, and wake you back up again, Sora?" Riku joked.

Yen Sid had a habit of stroking his beard whenever he was in deep thought. He had observed Sora for several minutes, used potions, elixirs, even ethers to try and better the boy's condition. But even with all the tonics he fed him, the circles around his eyes did not lighten up one hue. Finally, the wizard took a seat on a stool right in front of Sora, and raised a hand up to his forehead. He then pressed his thumb into his patient's forehead, which caused the boy to wince deeply, as the pressure had added to his already pulsating headache. Yen Sid's hand then began to gleam bright blue, symbolizing that he was exploring Sora's mind, in search of the problem that had been slowly taking him down. But only a few moments after he had begun his treatment, a collection of small wispy black whips emerged from under Yen Sid's thumb, and stung the magician in the wrist. He quickly retracted his hand, waving in the air to try and breeze away the pain, and sighed.

"I don't know the exact problem, but there's a number of guesses that I can make." The wizard stood up and patted Sora on the head. "The most likely one would be that someone is trying to get inside Sora's mind in an indirect manner. They're using some sort of invasive magic to enter for small periods of time, and in these moments it appears as if they are searching for something. During these treks, it seems they're bringing a lot of back up, which is what the creatures keeps seeing in his dreams are. They are keeping Sora from protecting his own mind by entering the dream world." Once Yen Sid finished his explanation, Kairi sighed with worry, and Riku crossed his arms.

"Why couldn't it just be something simple like insomnia, or something in the food?" Yen Sid ignored Riku's comment, and continued.

"Someone needs to go into Sora's mind, find the door that this invader is coming and going through, and shut it. That way I can administer a locking spell, it'll keep the attacker from ever entering into Sora's mind again by recognizing his magic, should it come near again." Riku nodded somewhat annoyingly.

"And that someone is going to be me." Kairi shot Riku a look of confusion and shock.

"What do you mean that person has to be you?" The wizard quickly held up his hand to dispel any sort of further argument.

"I'm afraid Riku is right, my dear. He is the only one to have successfully journeyed into Sora's mind before. He knows how to navigate it, where to look for any suspicious happenings. Is that correct?" Yen Sid raised an eyebrow to the silver haired boy, and he chuckled, nodding in agreement.

"I've done it before, I can do it again. Let's move quickly though, we don't know how much longer before Sora goes completely-"

THUD! A loud crash drew everyone's eyes back to where Sora was, except he wasn't there anymore. He was now sprawled out onto the floor, eyes practically wired shut, completely knocked out. Kairi shouted out his name as she flew down to his side and grasped his shoulders. She started shaking him, hoping to wake him up, but it was no use…he was too weakened. Riku turned to Yen Sid with a deep cerulean glare of determination, clenching both of his fists.

"Put me under, Sid. Get me in Sora's head…now."

A resolute Riku and an unconscious Sora both lay beside one another in two silvery adjacent tables, with Yen Sid making the necessary preparations to submit Riku's consciousness into Sora's. While the magician readied himself, Kairi took a seat beside her silver-haired friend, and tightly grasped his hand. Kairi was strong, her eyes didn't act as dams for tears, but the concern and fear still radiated from those ocean blue eyes of hers.

"I know you've done this before…but regardless…please be careful. I've already lost you guys once before, I don't want to go through that again." Riku stared up, his ice glare practically clashing with Kairi's. He softly clasped his other hand over Kairi's to show some assurance, and then gave a warm smile.

"I'll bring him back Kairi, this won't be like any of the other times. We won't be thrashed out of your life for months or years this time. A few hours, a day at the most, and we'll all be back in the training room whipping each other's butts as usual." Kairi gave a small chuckle, she believed in RIku, trusted him. If there was anyone she could count on, it was Riku. She wrapped her arms around her friend, a final embrace before her friend was sent into the world of the dream. For a few moments, Riku held Kairi against him, and during that time, he was almost certain he had heard a sniffle emit from her. Yen Sid rose up behind her, and the two parted, looking up at the wizard, whose raised hand was glowing with glimmering magical energy.

"Now beware Riku, Xehanort will no doubt try all sorts of tricks to keep you from finding Sora. Don't trust anything that he introduces to you, no visions, dreams, memories or anything else. He will twist them and give them a sinister appearance to try and distract you from your true objective." Riku gave a determined nod. Yen Sid then sighed, anxious about the whole ordeal."Okay, are you ready to sleep?" Riku shook his head up and down, admittedly a little nervous. But regardless of his anxiousness, he laid his head against the small pillow at the top of the metal bed, shutting his eyes.

In the mere seconds Riku's eyes were closed, the world around him morphed and changed. The dark blue columns and walls of Yen Sid's workspace burned away, revealing the sandy beach of Riku's old home, the Destiny Islands. Of course it wasn't the real thing, no, that would be a dream in of itself.

This was a mere projection: a home for Sora's dreams, as it was once a home for Sora himself. Riku felt the sand under his boots deepen as he took his first step, then he opened his eyes. The waves and palm trees flew up and slowly waved to him, welcoming him back to his home. Riku took a moment to appreciate the sight, it may have not been the real beach, but it was still nice to have a glimpse of home. But he quickly snapped back to reality and remembered his mission. Now the "door" that Yen Sid mentioned would be somewhere on the island, hidden in darkness or concealed in secrecy. Plus, Riku had no idea what kind of forces the invader had brought into Sora's mind: Heartless, Nobodies, Dream Eaters…or a combination of the three. It seems he would simply have to go and find out. With that, he began to march.

The first place that Riku figured to search was the cave in the center of beach front, home to the many kiddy chalk drawings of older, innocent times. He smiled at the thought of glancing upon them once again, and quickly slunk under the palm trees that acted as curtains for the tunnel. Swiping a few roots and leaves out of the way, the siblings and the tell-tale wooden door all came into view. The cavern seemed completely unchanged, except that the chalk drawings seemed a little more bright and defined, especially the one of…Sora and Kairi? Riku noticed a new detail on that picture, from a distance it seemed like two comets with curved tails aimed at both of their heads. But as he drew closer, the chalk swipes focused into their true form. They were giving hands, and the gift, the ever-so-symbolic paopu fruit. The sight was for some reason, slightly painful to look at. But he took the trouble, and as he gazed on an idea began to swirl and swell in his head.

All these years of competition and battle, the races, the sword fights, the battles of wit and sharpness of tongue, Riku and Sora had battled for years over this girl, and Riku had always come out on top. He was always the fastest, the strongest, he even became a key blade master BEFORE Sora did. Yet, this drawing was a blatant expression, that he had won the battles, but he lost the war. Kairi's heart belonged to Sora.

"So you finally realize, your endeavors have been for nought?" A deep, throaty voice whispered from behind the boy. Riku swung around and materialized his weapon, ready to fight, and was met with an unknown figure, garbed in the almost-infamous black organization hood. He held no weapons, not did he take any offensive stance, he merely leaned against the cave wall with his arms crossed. "All these years of victory and impressment, and the girl falls for the "accidental hero"." Riku smirked at the figure, lowering his weapon only a little bit.

"If you're trying to make me resent Sora for being Sora…it's a lost cause, I could never hate him for having a stronger heart…I could never hate him, period." The figure laughed mockingly, before pushing off the wall to both feet, with his arms still crossed.

"Yes, I have seen the immense care and love you have for your friends, so much that you even explored the path of darkness in hopes of using it to help. You may be the one person whose traveled the deepest into the dark, without losing your entire being to its clutches. That is a very impressive skill. So much devotion, so much determination." The figure slowly lurched closer to Riku, and he moved back, trying to keep the distance between them the same or farther.

"Flattery won't work either. If you want to anything helpful or positive in my eyes, do me a favor and out of my friend's head." The hooded figure looked down, seemingly annoyed, and gave a big sigh.

"It seems you'll need more than just a drawing to understand the dilemma." The figure snapped his fingers, and suddenly, the faint laughter of children began to flow from the entrance of the cave. It slowly grew louder, and louder, and louder, until their owners came running through the pathway. It was Sora, Kairi, and…Riku himself…but they were all kids again.

The three were playing, chasing one another through the caves, Sora and Kairi trying to steal a pearl white seashell the kid Riku had in his possession. They ran in circles, with Riku managing to hold onto the shell, even with the combined efforts of Sora and Kairi. Riku's eyes widened as he watched, he remembered this time that he had played with his friends. Sora managed to keep Riku's hand from snuffing his face out, so all Riku could do was stretch the hand that held the shell as far away as he could from his friend's grasp. But the determined Sora jumped onto Riku's hoping the weight would throw off his balance and allow him a chance at success. The result, the shell fell down to the ground behind a rock, and Sora crashed down onto of Riku. The young brown-haired boy pushed himself up, shaking his head to get the bits of dust and pebble out of his hair, and when he opened his eyes, he was met with the young Riku's own. They stared at each other for a while, the both of them starting to redden in the face. As Riku watched this in-the-flesh memory, the hooded figure turned to him with a shadowed smirk.

"Did someone's mom tell them not to blush at other boys?" Riku gritted his teeth in frustration, before Kairi stole both his and the other kids' attention, by holding up the shell and going "ha ha". As she made her way towards the cave exit, Riku sent Sora tumbling over, and hurried up to his feet, charging after the girl. Sora would follow after yelling at the kid Riku to "get back here". As his kid self ran past him, Riku's eyes followed him until he disappeared behind the walls of rock. The hooded stranger then let out a small chortle. "Believe me my friend, this one of many signs that I've picked up while watching you and your little friends." That last taunt was the last straw. Riku launched himself at the figure, slashing his Way to the Dawn wildly. Each swipe of the blade was easily dodged by the figure, as he took mere steps and leans to out himself of the sword's trajectory. But still the silver-haired swordsman keep attacking, until the angel wing teeth of his keyblade dug itself into the side of a rock wall. The figure stepped back towards the cave exit, his arms extended out, as if inviting him "Let's take a gander at some more of these bits of revelation, shall we, young Riku?" With that, he slunk under the hanging root curtain of the cave growth, to the outside. Riku grabbed the tip of his keyblade, ripped the teeth out of the stone, and then charged after the hooded figure.

As he rushed through roots and leaves slapped against his face and arms, blinding him somewhat. His frustration grew until he slashed the vines down, crushing them under his feet as he blasted down the cavern. When he broke out to the outside, the sunlight flooded his vision, and he was forced to block it out wit his hand until his eyes adjusted. As the solar flare slowly dimmed out, the figure came into clarity, standing right before the waterfall that poured beside the secret cave. He spoke, keeping his gaze on the rolling waves of the sea.

"You remember this day? Only a few precious moments from the day that this world was consumed by the darkness? You and Sora had another one of your little contests…a race and a battle to be precise. Then…this happened." The cloaked man stuck his finger out, and Riku followed it's direction. He again saw younger versions of himself and Sora, but only younger by two years his current age, instead of toddler status. His past self was strolling over to the past Sora, and clenched in his hand, a fresh, plump paopu fruit, the green branch leaf still flowing in the wind. From afar, Riku watched and relived this second memory, as his previous self tossed the fruit over to Sora, who fumbled around before getting a good catch on it. The figure slowly nodded his head, hearing the old banter between the old will-be heroes. He then turned to face Riku.

"If you give someone else a paopu fruit…your destinies become intertwined, and you'll remain and be a part of each others' lives…forever. Isn't that what you said?" Riku looked up to the stranger, emitting a low but vicious growl. "I know, that at this moment, you had hoped, Sora would be smart enough to read this little playful gesture for what it really was. But he didn't know the significance of the fruit at this time, thus, he didn't realize what it meant when you decided to give it to him. To GIVE it to him." Riku had enough, again he swung his sword at the figure, but he dodged his attacks, and backflipped onto the sand. The figure then began to run, making for the door that would lead to the back of the island. Riku wasted no time bounding onto the sand after him, but the crystals only slugged his progress as they slide under his heels. By the time he passed the bridge's shadow, the figure had already slunk through the door, but failed to close it all the way. At full speed, Riku charged into the doorway, using his keyblade as a battering ram, nearly shattering the door off it's hinges.

The boy nearly fell face first into the sand, but he managed to catch himself and fire back up, keyblade sharp and ready. He shot his gaze from the ground, to the rickey bridge, and then to the top of the wooden tower. There, with his hand wrapped around the zip line, stood the hooded figure, who flashed a grimy, mocking smile to Riku, before leaping off the edge of the tower, swiftly gliding down out of his view. But Riku was not about to let this hack get away, not with all of the things he had spat out to him, nor with the danger he posed to Sora. With near lightning speed, Riku sprinted across the yard, leaping from bridge to bridge onto the stone cliff, before bounding across the fence into the small hill that once housed the raft that he, Sora, and Kairi had built years ago. He figured it would still be standing in that plot, given the world around him is 'supposedly' a representation of Sora's consciousness, memories, and dreams. But he could not be prepared for what lay in that same spot.

It was his two best friends, Sora and Kairi, together in the one way Riku had yet to ever see in real life. The red-haired girl, a patron of innocence in Riku's eyes, was practically laying on top of his best friend, with her lips…and tongue, pressed firmly against his own. Her hands clenched the front of Sora's undershirt, her body tight up against his, pushing him into the sand. As she stroked and lined his collarbone with her finger, Sora's own hands were at work, as their exploration of Kairi's body caused her pink corset and white tank top to bloom up. The passion practically irradiated from the both of them, and Riku could only stand and watch in awe. So much so that he almost dropped his sword.

"This is the truth, the real desire in Sora's mind." The figure slithered behind Riku, running a hand across his shoulders as he strolled. "All of the effort, the wasted energy, the competitions, and you still lost the prize." Riku's bangs shadowed his eyes as he lowered his head, trying to hide the dread that was welling up inside of him. It wasn't the sort of angst that produced tears, it was the sort that strangled and dragged the soul down into the darkest part of the abyss. The figure sensed his, chuckling at the boiling pot of emotion bubbling within the silver-haired boy. "How you managed to miss all the signs is laughable. Didn't you notice that Kairi was always willing to leap out and latch onto Sora? At Hollow Bastion, in the World that Never Was, and here, in the bowels of his own mind, they are culminating their romance." The stranger, spun around, his arms outstretched to the ground, air, and sea. "Why constantly serve the side of light, when the reward you oh so hope to claim is being groped and fondled by the hands of your inferior friend?" There was a moment of silence, save for the moans and sudden rushes of breath that emitted from the imaginary Sora and Kairi's passionate moment. Before long, the figure's hands slumped to his sides. He shook his obscured head in disappointment, and stepped around to face the eloping figments. "You confuse me, Riku…you accept the darkness yet you refuse to let it consume you. You are betrayed and thrown to the side, yet you still give this unwavering loyalty to your friends. The girl you love is swept up by your less-talented rival, and you simply stand and watch it happen." The stillness continued, until it was finally broken by the most unexpected sound…Riku's hushed chuckling.

"That's a very good, very thorough, and very honest summary of my relationship with those two. However, there is one fatal flaw to your analyzation." The figure titled his head back, almost oblivious to Riku's response.

"And what may that be, Riku? What can I possibly be missing?" Riku fired his gaze up to the hooded figure's back, his eyes like crosshairs. He then smirked.

"Kairi was never the prize for me." The Way to the Dawn was a missile, blasting through the air until the side crashed into the back of the cloaked tempter. The blow knocked him off his feet, curling his back and body into a backwards C, until the force sent him tumbling into the watery sand. Riku's hand glowed with flurries of violet and black, and in seconds, these embers of power cloaked his entire body, before finally dispersing like a paper thrown into a high -speed fan. Behind the flakes of darkness lay Riku's empowered form, ordained in black, blue, and red, with the tell-tale empty black heart in the center of his chest.

Riku was done dancing around the beach with this character, it was time to collect.

The figure clenched his fists under the water, shaking with violent, growing rage. Before long, the cloak's openings began to grow throned, black tentacles, lashing and spiraling out like angry whips. The fabric of the cloak itself began to tear, revealing coal-colored ripples of unnatural muscle beneath it. It was only when the hood shredded and fell to the sand that the blackness was finally broken up. Lengthy gray hair waved with the wind as the figure slowly turned to face his failed recruit, and Riku's blue iris clashed with unreal yellow ones. The all too familiar face of the young Xehanort stared back at the silver-haired boy, veins of darkness spidering out from his eyes down to his entire body, a collection of lined, abnormal black muscle. He smirked, the white of his teeth made lighter by the surrounding blackness, and he unleashed a curtain of shadow across the entire beach, until everything was consumed.

Riku keep himself alert, turning and watching every single angle his eyes would allow him to see. As he twisted back and around, a small bead of light came into clarity. Upon squinting, he realized that it was a tower, with a bright yellow stained glass roof…with the unconscious, levitating Sora practically decorating the top. Without one second's hesitation, Riku bulleted through the corridor of darkness.

Massive thorn-like creatures blasted out from under the ground, flailing their tentacles at Riku's feet in a desperate attempt to restrain him. But Riku was beyond falling for the old trip and tumble approach the Heartless were taking. He leapt, flipped and somersaulted right past the bits of space between the tendrils, and kept on dashing towards his goal. The silver-haired swordsman shredded through the thick sentient vines with lightning speed, kicking off the bleeding stubs to give himself more momentum. As he neared the golden circle, a great bulging mass of black began to manifest from behind of the unconscious Sora, a last ditch effort to consume the boy and move him away from his friend's grasp. But Riku was determined that the creature would not even get to touch his friend. The latest of the sprouting tentacle collection decided to approach Riku from the front, with a gaping maw of ivory teeth greeting the keyblade master in open fangs-arms.

Riku just smirked, and kicked his heel off the ground at an angle and wrapping the arm that held his sword around his body. The tentacle mouth was sliced clean through the middle, and split in two, firing a blood-curdling screech into the air. Following up with his mantra of sliding and leaping, Riku stamped his boot into the back of the half-creature, and hurled himself into the now giant, still featureless creature.

Just the sheer missile-like force would have knocked the monster off of it's feet, but the massive smash was topped off with a key blade jab through the torso. The scream of ripping flesh and tearing insides played as Riku pulled the Way to the Dawn out from the innards of the being. Tumbling like a building struck by wrecking balls, the grand Heartless fell into the darkness, consumed by its own shadow. Riku knew however that this was only a temporary retreat, and that the Heartless would quickly rebuild themselves, and attempt to construct the behemoth once again. Lashing his arm around Sora and hoisting him over his shoulder, Riku lunged from the edge, latching the angel-wing-teeth of his blade onto one of the creatures below. He swung around twice as he descended, managing to behead, or be-tentacle, two more of the creatures, before touching down. Then, he made a full-on sprint for the door.

Enraged by the constant attacking and removal of their brethren, the tentacle Heartless hurled themselves at Riku, blasting through like hellish sharks soaring in the sea of shadows. They swiped and slashed at his feet in a desperate attempt to bring him down, but the boy's determination wouldn't let any force stay his feet. As he neared the door, he brought up his sword, and began to will his power into it, causing wisps of violet and black to envelop and collect around the hilt. The ground then began to erupt, signifying the sudden reapproaching of the dark colossus. With haste, Riku quickly dived through the doorway, escaping the clutches of a rogue tendril by mere inches. Tumbling through the sand the two finally came to a dusty stop, and Riku hurriedly rushed to his feet. Aiming his now fully charged Way to the Dawn at the passage, the tip of the sword bloomed with power, an arrow of light shooting from the very end. The small bead from the blade's peak started to grow as it moved away, until it completely enveloped the passageway in lavender and white light. The last thing that Riku could see was a monstrous form of Xehanort, veiny black face and all, howling at him in utter rage and anger. But as the veil of energy shut between them, Riku flashed a smirk of victory.

The boy couldn't see how the energy was affecting the Heartless behind the door, but whatever it was, it was effective as not even a single claw managed to break through the beam wall. The energy spun and swirled into the door, and then, it vanished into mere wisps. Where the door of darkness once lay, there was only the small archway, no door, no way back into Sora's mind from the outside.

Sending his keyblade back to its invisible sheath, Riku turned kneeled beside Sora, slipping his arms under his friend and hoisting him up bridal style. He then made a march towards the shack door, back to Kairi and the wizard. As he strode across the sand, he took a small gander at Sora, who appeared to nuzzle into his arms as he continued to sleep. Riku smiled, giving a small sigh, before speaking.

"I don't know if you're able to hear me down there sleepyhead, but just let it be known that it's been hell trying to get you back. There always seems to be something we missed whenever we think the fight is over. We just finish going through our own obstacle courses of dreams and low and behold Xehanort is trying to snatch your brain from the inside out." Sora's head only shifted, softly pushing into Riku's arm. "…He's good at trying to play the mind though, tried to use the truth against me, turn me against you…But what he didn't expect was that, I've already excepted the fact that, your heart belongs to Kairi, and hers to you. But a kid can dream now can he?" Riku took a deep breath, deciding to stop stating the obvious and beating around the bush. "I do wish that you had seen the signs though, me giving you the paopu fruit, those moments when we were kids. Maybe it's my fault for not making it more obvious, and it's kind of pathetic when you think about it: that I've only been able to tell you all this while you are fast asleep. But the truth is…I adore you Sora…more than anybody else could, and I'm not ashamed to admit it to anyone who asks. I just wish that you felt the same way about me." As Riku finished his confession, the shack door began to part by itself, revealing a bright white light within. As the gap widened the shimmer became more and more prominent, until it's brilliance squinted Riku's eyes with invisible hands.

"Well, wakey wakey, Sora."

As the massive screen of white dissipated, Riku rose up from the metal bed, leaning his neck to stretch out the dormant, some-what sore muscles. At the very edge of his vision, he could see a black, yellow, red, and brown blur slowly move, as if slowly easing back into consciousness. Within moments, the heavy mumblings or tiredness began to slowly dribble from Sora's mouth. No words, just…guttural sounds of grogginess and fatigue, and Riku was perfectly fine with that, as long as his friend was awake and alive. Though of course, Kairi's inevitable glomping did tug at him a little.

A small sense of welcoming breezed by Riku as he entered his room, or the room he was occupying during his stay. But Yen Sid had been kind enough to reshape and morph it into the familiar vision of Riku's old room in the Destiny Islands: black bed sheets, dark blue walls, and several other bits of his past such as a desk with some scattered knick knacks on it, as well as on the shelves nailed into the foremost corner of the room. Striding over to the window, Riku looked out to the aurora-like sky, reminiscing about the events of that day. However, before he could even begin to contemplate the words and actions of Xehanort, the sound of knocking on wood played behind him. He turned to see it was Sora, still a bit tired from is ordeal, using the wall as a leaning post. Sora started towards him.

"Hey." Was all that he used to acknowledge Riku, so the boy mimicked him as a response.

"I just came over to say, thank-" Riku's hand flew up, practically dropping a stone brick in front of Sora's sentence.

"You don't have to thank me Sora, it's my obligation to slap you awake once in a while." Sora chuckled lightly, before looking down to the floor.

"Yen Sid told me that you actually went into my mind." Riku looked at him from the side, crossing his arms as he nodded. Sora looked away, as if in embarrassment, before he continued. "What did you see?" Riku sighed as he leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

"All your dirty secrets…" Riku kidded, before giving his serious answer. "Just visions of us from the past, like that time in the cave, the day I gave you the paopu fruit, and…admittedly, I saw your and Kairi's little make out session on the beach." Sora's brows arched up in confusion, while that did sound enticing to watch, Riku's account was false.

"What are you talking about? I never made out with Kairi…" Riku shot his gaze at Sora, wondering if he was telling the truth or trying to keep his secrets from being exposed. But then, a sudden realization lit up in Riku's mind, something that Yen Sid had said before he went under.

"Xehanort will no doubt try all sorts of tricks to keep you from finding Sora. Don't trust anything that he introduces to you, no visions, dreams, memories or anything else. He will twist them and give them a sinister appearance to try and distract you from your true objective."

Riku was a bit shocked, Xehanort did manage to pull the wool over is eyes, make him think that a chance with Sora was completely out of the question. Sora then began to blush, as the nature of his next words were of the blushing nature.

"I also, heard everything that you said. I guess when you shut the door on Xehanort, my senses came back to me." Riku's eyes widened, he thought he had told the truth to Sora in unconscious confidence. Desperately trying to play the nonchalant role, Riku kept his eyes toward the wall, away from Sora's. He knew if they met that a wave of panic would ensue inside. Sora moved closer to Riku, getting to his toes in order to reach the height of his friend's face. "If you won't let me thank you, that's fine. But I still want to show my appreciation for what you did."

Riku couldn't ignore his friend any longer, and his head began to inch towards the left. Sora's luminous blue eyes were the first thing he noticed, until his friend shut them and moved forward. The sensation of cultivated heat began to bloom from the both of their lips, but Riku stayed stationary, paralyzed by Sora's action. This was a moment that he thought only existed with his own dreams, which he had always been afraid of revealing to Sora. But, as it turns out, he would have to unveil a thing, as Sora had done the work for him.

A kiss from the rescued was a common reward for the hero, but this kiss…was anything but common. It was one worthy of remembrance.

To Be Continued...


End file.
